This post has been updated (February 2016) for Cynthia Morris’ second volume and name change of the series. The original post was from December, 2014.

A marvelous new collection of acrostic puzzles for the younger set!

Sometimes, things just seem to work out. Back in 2014 I was working on improving AcrostiComposer, the software I use to write acrostic word puzzles. I was thinking about publishing a book of puzzles, and found out that I needed to be able to adjust the margins in the PDF file of the finished puzzle.

As I was doing the programming for that, I got email from Cynthia Morris, asking me if it would be possible to add adjustable margins to AcrostiComposer, because she wanted to publish a book of her puzzles! Cynthia has the cool website AmericanAcrostics, with acrostic puzzles she writes having an American history theme. The book she wanted to publish turned out to be a book of acrostic puzzles written specifically for young people.

I’m unaware of any other book of acrostic puzzles written for kids. It’s difficult enough to write them for adults without taking into consideration the vocabulary, interests, and understanding of younger students. But Cynthia has done it, and what an amazing success it is! The two volumes are titled AnimaCrostics and is written for eight-year-olds and up — but five-year-olds might be able to work on it with help, and there’s no real upper age limit. The focus of this volume of puzzles is animals and there is a friendly, jolly penguin on the cover.

Cynthia didn’t just write the puzzles and publish them. She has clear step-by-step instructions on how to solve the puzzles, little hints for more difficult words, and she even took the book to a classroom for battle-testing. The kids (and their parents) loved it.

The best kind of learning is the kind that doesn’t seem like learning at all. That’s what these puzzles are. They’re fun and yet they are crammed full of information. Solving them means getting the spelling correct, as well as perhaps learning a new word or two per puzzle. The quotes are fun and educational, too. In short, if you need gifts for kids, I can wholeheartedly recommend these puzzles. Cynthia Morris has done a fantastic job with AnimaCrostics and this book deserves a place on every young person’s bookshelf.

They say any idiot can publish a book these days, and to prove that’s true my book “Acrostica I” is now available on Amazon. “What’s an Acrostica?” you ask. Well, funny you should ask because I’m here to tell you.

Everybody knows about crossword puzzles but acrostic puzzles are a bit more obscure. Invented by Elizabeth Kingsley in 1934, there has been a small but devout following ever since. Acrostic puzzles today can be found periodically in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. I began writing them over ten years ago, and five years ago started my own website acrostica.com to display them and allow visitors to solve them. Check them out!

I’ve put fifty puzzles into my first volume of acrostic puzzles, titled “Acrostica I” published by Pocamug Press.

Update (December 2018): There are now six volumes and more coming in 2019 if all goes well! Thank you if you’ve purchased one (or more)!